Know your students and class dynamics. Consider the points of diversity already existent in your class and think about the kinds of diversity that your students are exposed to outside of class. This will help you to know which diversity issues are more familiar to the students and which may be more controversial. Establish a safe environment for students to share openly. Begin the class by presenting a set of rules, or “norms,” that will guide the class. These include respect for others’ ideas; a commitment to confidentiality; listening to others; waiting for the speaker to complete an idea without interrupting; and a promise to refrain from judgment. Arrange the desks and chairs in a circle or half circle. This promotes eye contact and a sense of openness. Establish a practice of open conversations and dialogue. Begin with subjects that will help you and the students get to know one another. Ice breakers and other activities that promote personal sharing help build trust and comfort.
Disclose to the students your own journey in becoming more culturally aware. This should not be a long story but a highlight of events that helped you become more aware of diversity in your own world and better able to embrace diversity in your daily life. A good way to begin a class on diversity is to help students connect with their own identities. We all have multiple identities that are important to us. If students can articulate their own identities and share with the class aspects of those identities that are important to them, they will be able to connect with one another and share a mutual respect for values. Simulations are a great way to teach diversity. Through simulations, students are able to experience firsthand many of the issues in diversity without it being so personal that they are not able to be objective about the experience during a debriefing. Find simulations that have already been created; many are available online.
It is important to have a debriefing session at the close of a class on diversity. Presenting activities and exercises is not enough. Although such activities will stimulate thinking and initiate changes, the key is in a structured debriefing session. The teacher should prepare a set of questions to bring to the class for discussion. Students can also write their reactions in a reflection journal that can be an ongoing project between teacher and student for the duration of the course. Whatever form of follow-up you use, it is important that it is well thought out and structured so that the students are guided in that process as well as the whole approach to diversity.